Talk:Business analytics/Archives/2011

suggested External Links

I am not a disinterested party, but I have some external links that I believe would be useful and informative and in keeping with the external links policy. I am also suggesting these for the Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics entry. I believe they fit there as well.

• Will You Buy? More Companies Turn To Predictive Analytics Software
• Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 2008
• Enterprise Systems Business Intelligence Power Rankings

DaveNC001 (talk) 17:25, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Merger proposal

I added this merger proposal as I don't think that the term "Analytics" is widely used for anything outside the scope of things includable as "Business analytics". Where the same types of activity might be done in other fields they are possibly known by other names, such as "data mining". Melcombe (talk) 10:38, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Isn't there an educational component to analytics by itself? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Willwaugh (talk • contribs) 19:14, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

I think its a bad idea to merge "Analytics" with "Business Analytics". As rightly mentioned in the Analytics page, Analytics is the science of analysis; and analysis is done on many subjects like economics, social aspects. - Manjit Mohan

I also would not like to see it merged for the same reasons given by Manjit - David Revell

Given the above, I have removed the merger proposal. Melcombe (talk) 15:01, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Normative/descriptive confusion

There is some confusion between the normative/prescriptive (i.e., how an organization should make a decision) vs. the descriptive (how such decisions are actually made) in the first definition:

Business analytics is how organizations gather and interpret data in order to make better business decisions and to optimize business processes. Analytical activities are expanding fast in businesses, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations.

There are at least two layers of normative or prescriptive argument here: that organizations should gather and interpret data in order to make decisions, and that these decisions should 'optimize' a 'business process.' (I don't disagree: still, the normative portion should be explicit. Whether I agree or not, these are points that need to be substantiated.)

[Besides, I would have thought that business accounting was the gathering and interpretation of data within business organizations.]

Rick lightburn (talk) 03:50, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Science v. Art

Does anyone else think that Analytics is better described as an Art than a Science. The basis of science is that expressed observations or theories should be provable or absolute, and numeric amounts or values are not always involved. Analytics, as currently defined, always involves the use of numeric amounts or values and its findings or conclusions are much more subjective. This is the same reasoning that has caused accountants to define accountancy as an art rather than a science.DeFordS (talk) 22:11, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

data > statistics > analytics > ...

Suppose 'statistics' (as a discipline, not as data) is seen as 'rigorous' - and 'analytics' (as a discipline/practice) is seen as (merely) 'robust' (in the jargon of Statistics) with also 'expertise-based' (subjective) 'judgment' incorporated ? Eg, 'analytics' being less rigorous than 'Statistics (discipline)' and more rigorous-robust than uninformed-judgment. Godancemichael (talk) 15:03, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Pared this down

This article previously was a re-hash of Davenport's book. It is still a re-hash of his book. These are not my opinions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Writerguy71 (talk • contribs) 00:02, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Took out sentences that added nothing to this article and that were not a neutral point of view > ...

These edits were reverted by Mr. Ollie. Can he/she tell me what was added to the article by the sentences. Writerguy71 (talk • contribs) —Preceding undated comment added 06:49, 16 August 2009 (UTC).